Women treated for breast cancer may experience a range of long-term physical changes, symptoms and side-effects of treatment.

Physical changes associated with breast cancer can include changes in how the body looks, menopausal symptoms, fertility problems and lymphoedema.

This section describes some of the longer term physical changes associated with breast cancer treatment and what can be done to manage them.

Find out more about:

• Breast cancer and body image (includes information on breast prostheses and breast reconstruction as well as hair loss after treatment)
• Breast cancer and menopause
• Breast cancer and fertility
• Breast cancer and lymphoedema

Short-term side effects of treatment

For information about short-term side effects of different breast cancer treatments, see the treatment section.

Symptoms and side effects of metastatic breast cancer

For more information about symptoms and side effects of metastatic breast cancer, see the issues for women with metastatic breast cancer section.

General information

For more general information about physical changes due to cancer see:

• Fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Eating problems
• Nausea and vomiting
• Mouth sores
• Bladder problems
• Bowel problems
• Constipation
• Diarrhoea
• Lymphoedema
• Pain